Canadian Violinist Jacques Forestier and Angela Chan Share First Prize of Joseph Joachim Violin Competition

Hanover, 28 September 2024: 27-year-old Angela Chan (Hong Kong/China) and 19-year-old Jacques Forestier (Canada) share the first prize of 30,000 euros of the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition 2024 in Hanover. Both impressed the international jury equally with their final concert and the world premiere of “Feder”, the commissioned work by Enno Poppe for the 2024 competition, and will now receive 15,000 euros each. The jury consisted of Juliane Banse (chair), Lorenza Borrani, Liza Ferschtman, Kim Kashkashian, András Keller, Gidon Kremer, Alexander Lonquich, Feng Ning, Kathrin Rabus and Stephan Zilias. The most outstanding three musicians of the competition, Kyumin Park, Angela Chan and Jacques Forestier, performed in the final. All three finalists received 10,000 euros each for reaching the final and can now call themselves “Laureates of the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition”. “We are delighted to be able to honour two young personalities with the main prize, combining technical perfection and charisma. I warmly congratulate Angela Chan and Jacques Forestier”, said Lavinia Francke, General Secretary of the organising Stiftung Niedersachsen, delighted. She added: “I would like to thank all 21 participants, all partners, the jury, the Artistic Directorship, Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille, and everyone involved for their commitment and trust in the competition.”

A number of other prizes was also awarded at the ceremony in the Großer Sendesaal of the NDR Konzerthaus in Hanover: Warner Classics will record a debut album with Jacques Forestier and distribute and promote it worldwide. The G. Henle publishing house honoured Kyumin Park with sheet music vouchers and a monetary prize totalling 2,000 euros. The renowned composer Enno Poppe and the jury awarded the 5,000-euro prize for the best interpretation of his commissioned work “Feder” to Angela Chan. Jacques Forestier will be invited to play a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1765) for the next three years, on loan from the Fritz Behrens Stiftung. The Kuss Quartet awarded the chamber music prize of 3,000 euros to semi-finalist Louisa Staples. The audience at the NDR Konzerthaus awarded Jacques Forestier the audience prize of 2,000 euros. 32 concert partners supported the competition and awarded concert engagements among the semi-finalists during the award ceremony. Louisa Staples received a scholarship from karsten witt music-management GmbH for a music management course at the kwmm Academy. Two participants will be invited to a masterclass at Kronberg Academy.

“There are many winners of the competition and this time even two main prize winners! We would like to thank all the participants from the bottom of our hearts for their courage, their commitment and for inspiring us with their wonderful music”, said Oliver Wille, Artistic Director of the competition. “Competitions can only ever be snapshots. Over the past two weeks, we have got to know up-and-coming young personalities and their great musical potential. We are delighted to be able to follow their future paths now”, said Antje Weithaas, Artistic Director of the competition.

The Joseph Joachim Violin Competition is organised by the Stiftung Niedersachsen in Hanover every three years. 2024 the competition took place from 16 to 28 September. In two preliminary rounds, 21 participants from nine countries played for the jury and thrilled the audience with their talent. Only eight violinists reached the two semi-final concerts with their musical challenges: Angela Chan, Jacques Forestier, Alexander Won-Ho Kim, Eunjoong Park, Kyumin Park, Louisa Staples, Alexandra Weissbecker und Xunyue Zhang. The most out-standing three musicians could now be seen in the final.

All competition concerts were streamed live on the website www.jjv-hanover.de and on Facebook in cooperation with The Violin Channel. They could also be experienced live in China via Amadeus TV. All competition performances are still available in the competition’s media library on YouTube. On 29 September 2024, NDR Kultur, the competition’s cultural partner, will broadcast the live recordings of all three final concerts starting at 21:30 in the series “Podium der Jungen”.

Overview of prizes and prizewinners:

• Joseph Joachim Prize (15,000 euros each): Angela Chan and Jacques Forestier
• Laureate Prize (10,000 euros each): Angela Chan, Jacques Forestier and Kyumin Park
• Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work Prize (5,000 euros): Angela Chan
• Chamber Music Prize (3,000 euros): Louisa Staples
• Audience Prize (2,000 euros): Jacques Forestier
• Warner Classics Award (international marketing and distribution of debut album): Jacques Forestier
• Henle Urtext Prize (1,500 euros plus vouchers for Urtext sheet music editions in printed form amounting to 400 euros and in digital form amounting to 100 euros): Kyumin Park
• Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin (1765) (loaned by the Fritz Behrens Stiftung for three years): Jacques Forestier
• Scholarship from karsten witt musikmanagement GmbH for a music management course at the kwmm academy: Louisa Staples
• Two participants will be invited to a masterclass at Kronberg Academy.

The following concert partners also awarded concert engagements to:

The Beethoven Festival Bonn, the Dresden Philharmonic and the Tonhalle Düsseldorf are still to announce their engagements.